We examine the link between poor research methodology and poor public policy.
Rolf Penner
Paying for the Wheat Board
The Canadian Wheat Board model has inadvertently cancelled vast opportunities in the higher end, value added part of the agriculture sector.
Rolf Penner responds to CWB Chair’s column
Following is the viewpoint of the writer, chair of the Canadian Wheat Board’s board of directors that was published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix. Rolf Penner's response is in bold text. Rolf Penner, the author of Wheat board’s price premium simply a myth (SP, July...
CWB Disparities
Re: "The case rests on shaky math," Rolf Penner, Opinion, July 3. Rolf Penner makes a price comparison between wheat at Bottineau, N.D. and Boissevain, Manitoba. While this analysis is a worthwhile exercise, it does not provide the foundation to support Penner's...
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Canadian Property Rights Index 2023
A Snapshot of Property Rights Protection in Canada After 10 years
Alberta Politics and Empty Promises of Health-care Solutions
The writ has been dropped and Albertans are off to the polls on May 29. That leaves just four weeks for political leaders and voters to sort out what is arguably the most divisive, yet significant, issue for this election - health care. On Day 2, NDP leader Rachel...
Canadian Wheat Board Directors Interested in Power, not Farmers
CWB directors, who are now challenging the recent freeing of the barley market in court, appear to be driven by an unwavering commitment to the notion they alone know what is best for all farmers, and they are willing to say and do anything to preserve their positions of power and control.
Wheat Board Accused of Costing Farmers Millions in Lost Revenue
A report from a conservative think-tank says the Canadian Wheat Board’s single desk marketing system is costing prairie farmers hundreds of millions of dollars a year in lost revenue.
Board Costs Farmers $1 a Bushel: Report
A new report analyzing the value that the Canadian Wheat Board insists it delivers to Prairie farmers offers “instant absolute proof” to the contrary, says its author. Far from maximizing returns back to producers, the board is actually leaving an “astounding” amount...
CWB Price Premium Myth
Competition would dramatically raise the prices farmers are currently receiving thereby enabling them to effectively compete in the global marketplace.
Good Ideas Drowning in Regulation
Politicians love to crow about regulations they enact. They take out advertisements bragging about how tough they are on industries and how they are protecting us. Protecting us? From innovation, productivity, competitiveness, investment, more money in our pockets, a longer life and a cleaner environment? They have got to be kidding.
Barley, Free at Last
Except for a few sticks-in-the-mud, no one doubts any longer that Prairie farmers want choices in how they market their barley. By restoring dignity and property rights to growers, the new policy will bring clear benefits, not least a declaration that, when it comes...
Wheat Board Wants Ports, Elevators if Told to go it Alone in Barley Market
The Canadian Wheat Board says the federal government will have to help it buy port facilities and grain elevators - or let it abandon the barley market altogether - if farmers vote to eliminate the board's monopoly. Chairman Ken Ritter said the board of directors has...
Rolf Penner Vs. The CWB On Marketing Choice
The federal Minister of Agriculture told the Canadian Wheat Board to stick to its job and stay out of grain politics. If the Board chooses to interfere anyway, couldn’t it at least get its facts straight?
Why You Should Vote for Choice in Marketing Barley
Early in 2007, the federal Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food held a referendum among barley farmers that asked them to make one of three choices about their preference for the future marketing of the crop. This opinion piece appeared in the ballot package in support of one of those choices.